The Irish Farmers Journal asked the main supermarket chains and food service companies in the UK three questions about food imports as part of post-Brexit trade deals.
Ahead of post-Brexit trade deals being concluded, can you commit to not offering meat and dairy products from outside the UK and Ireland to your customers in the future?If not, can you commit to not offering meat and dairy products that have been produced to lower animal welfare and environmental standards than domestic UK standards?Does this apply to your cooked and frozen products, as well as fresh products?Full responses to the questions are outlined below.
Tesco
The UK’s largest supermarket chain declined to directly answer the questions asked but instead pointed to comments made by Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis last September.
“So when people talk about let’s go back to genetically modified foods or chlorinated chicken, if you have that conversation with UK customers, then they reject it. As a retailer, we will have to respect what people want,” he said.
“Whatever the trade deals are we, like other retailers, will look at them, but what we won’t do is give up our standards as we look at those opportunities,” Lewis said at the Financial Times Future of Retail conference.
“The UK standards around food safety and security are among the best in the world. We have a good system at the minute so the idea that we lower the standards in any way after Brexit, you won’t find lots of support for that in the industry,” the Tesco boss said.
“Our position hasn’t changed,” a Tesco spokesperson confirmed.
Asda
“We have no intentions of changing our current approach to welfare and safety standards in our fresh meat and poultry categories and will always be guided by our customers when it comes to the products we put on our shelves,” an Asda spokesperson said.
Sainsbury’s
“We are committed to upholding high standards for our customers and will never sell these products.”
Morrisons
A Morrisons spokesperson said that the retail chain had an “ongoing commitment” to only sourcing meat, milk and eggs from UK farms for its fresh own brand ranges.
Aldi
Aldi issued a public statement last week where the supermarket chain committed to only sourcing beef and chicken from UK farms, regardless of future trade deals.
“We will never compromise on the standards or specifications of our products, and that includes a commitment to never selling chlorinated chicken or hormone injected beef,” the statement read.
Co-op
“The Co-op already sources 100% British own-brand fresh and frozen meat and where it is used as an ingredient.
“Food provenance is very important to Co-op customers and members who want to buy meat that they know has been produced to high animal welfare and health and safety standards.
“In 2017, the Co-op was the first retailer to switch all of its fresh meat to 100% British and today, our policy is to source 100% British across all own-brand fresh and frozen meat and where meat is used as ingredient in our products.
“In the last five years we’ve invested £2.5bn into British sourcing which has enabled us to establish very strong relationships with our farming partners.
There has never been a more important time to support our agricultural industry.”
M&S
“Our commitment to our customers and family of 10,000 UK farmers has not and will not change. Our promise is that we only ever source our quality fresh food from Select Farmers we know and trust. That means our customers can be confident that we will never sell chlorinated chicken or hormone treated beef.”
Waitrose
All of our own label beef, chicken, pork, eggs and fresh milk is from the UK and that will not change. All of our lamb (around 75% is already UK sourced) will be 100% British from next summer. Our counters already offer British lamb all year round.
Our full commitment can be found here - we were the first major supermarket to come out and say this.
Iceland
“No, though we currently source all our fresh meat and milk from within the UK.”
“We have no plans to sell chlorinated chicken, hormone-treated beef or other products produced to lower than current UK standards.”
“We already source frozen products from around the world to take advantage of the most favourable growing conditions and to offer the best possible value to our customers.”
McDonald’s
“We’re proud of the suppliers we use and we won’t work with anyone who does not adhere to our own high quality standards, as well as those required by UK and EU legislation.”
Burger King
“Whatever trade deals may be agreed, we have no intention to source meat produced to standards lower than the high standards already adopted by our meat suppliers and their producers.”
Compass
“As the leading UK foodservice company we are proud to support the UK food system through our commitment to local sourcing and employment, and high levels of animal welfare standards.
“We are exclusive users of Oritain in the UK foodservice sector, a pioneering food provenance testing tool, and all our meat is reared in conditions that respect the Five Freedoms, the internationally accepted standards of care that affirm every living being’s right to humane treatment.
“We have a UK-first sourcing policy which means in practice 75% of what we serve is British, with the remainder largely comprising products which can’t be sourced from the UK like bananas and rice. Eighty per cent of our supply chain is made up of small suppliers with £5m committed to social enterprises.”
Others
No response was received from supermarket chain Lidl, as well as food service firms KFC, Costa and Mitchells & Butlers.
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The Irish Farmers Journal asked the main supermarket chains and food service companies in the UK three questions about food imports as part of post-Brexit trade deals.
Ahead of post-Brexit trade deals being concluded, can you commit to not offering meat and dairy products from outside the UK and Ireland to your customers in the future?If not, can you commit to not offering meat and dairy products that have been produced to lower animal welfare and environmental standards than domestic UK standards?Does this apply to your cooked and frozen products, as well as fresh products?Full responses to the questions are outlined below.
Tesco
The UK’s largest supermarket chain declined to directly answer the questions asked but instead pointed to comments made by Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis last September.
“So when people talk about let’s go back to genetically modified foods or chlorinated chicken, if you have that conversation with UK customers, then they reject it. As a retailer, we will have to respect what people want,” he said.
“Whatever the trade deals are we, like other retailers, will look at them, but what we won’t do is give up our standards as we look at those opportunities,” Lewis said at the Financial Times Future of Retail conference.
“The UK standards around food safety and security are among the best in the world. We have a good system at the minute so the idea that we lower the standards in any way after Brexit, you won’t find lots of support for that in the industry,” the Tesco boss said.
“Our position hasn’t changed,” a Tesco spokesperson confirmed.
Asda
“We have no intentions of changing our current approach to welfare and safety standards in our fresh meat and poultry categories and will always be guided by our customers when it comes to the products we put on our shelves,” an Asda spokesperson said.
Sainsbury’s
“We are committed to upholding high standards for our customers and will never sell these products.”
Morrisons
A Morrisons spokesperson said that the retail chain had an “ongoing commitment” to only sourcing meat, milk and eggs from UK farms for its fresh own brand ranges.
Aldi
Aldi issued a public statement last week where the supermarket chain committed to only sourcing beef and chicken from UK farms, regardless of future trade deals.
“We will never compromise on the standards or specifications of our products, and that includes a commitment to never selling chlorinated chicken or hormone injected beef,” the statement read.
Co-op
“The Co-op already sources 100% British own-brand fresh and frozen meat and where it is used as an ingredient.
“Food provenance is very important to Co-op customers and members who want to buy meat that they know has been produced to high animal welfare and health and safety standards.
“In 2017, the Co-op was the first retailer to switch all of its fresh meat to 100% British and today, our policy is to source 100% British across all own-brand fresh and frozen meat and where meat is used as ingredient in our products.
“In the last five years we’ve invested £2.5bn into British sourcing which has enabled us to establish very strong relationships with our farming partners.
There has never been a more important time to support our agricultural industry.”
M&S
“Our commitment to our customers and family of 10,000 UK farmers has not and will not change. Our promise is that we only ever source our quality fresh food from Select Farmers we know and trust. That means our customers can be confident that we will never sell chlorinated chicken or hormone treated beef.”
Waitrose
All of our own label beef, chicken, pork, eggs and fresh milk is from the UK and that will not change. All of our lamb (around 75% is already UK sourced) will be 100% British from next summer. Our counters already offer British lamb all year round.
Our full commitment can be found here - we were the first major supermarket to come out and say this.
Iceland
“No, though we currently source all our fresh meat and milk from within the UK.”
“We have no plans to sell chlorinated chicken, hormone-treated beef or other products produced to lower than current UK standards.”
“We already source frozen products from around the world to take advantage of the most favourable growing conditions and to offer the best possible value to our customers.”
McDonald’s
“We’re proud of the suppliers we use and we won’t work with anyone who does not adhere to our own high quality standards, as well as those required by UK and EU legislation.”
Burger King
“Whatever trade deals may be agreed, we have no intention to source meat produced to standards lower than the high standards already adopted by our meat suppliers and their producers.”
Compass
“As the leading UK foodservice company we are proud to support the UK food system through our commitment to local sourcing and employment, and high levels of animal welfare standards.
“We are exclusive users of Oritain in the UK foodservice sector, a pioneering food provenance testing tool, and all our meat is reared in conditions that respect the Five Freedoms, the internationally accepted standards of care that affirm every living being’s right to humane treatment.
“We have a UK-first sourcing policy which means in practice 75% of what we serve is British, with the remainder largely comprising products which can’t be sourced from the UK like bananas and rice. Eighty per cent of our supply chain is made up of small suppliers with £5m committed to social enterprises.”
Others
No response was received from supermarket chain Lidl, as well as food service firms KFC, Costa and Mitchells & Butlers.
Read more
Chestnutt to sit on UK’s new trade commission
Little for farmers in UK-US trade deal
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